This is the Seattle Sports Blog bringing you up to date current events of Seattle Sports. This blog has several writers who will discuss several sports related topics but mainly focus on Seattle Sports.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Steelers shutout Seahawks 24-0

By Kshell

The Pittsburgh Steelers(1-1) shutout the Seattle Seahawks(0-2) 24-0 for the Seahawks first shutout loss since the last time they played in Pittsburgh which was a 21-0 loss back in 2007. The Steelers have no shutout the Seahawks in back to back games since beating them in Super Bowl XL. There will be no blaming the refs this game as the Seahawks had just 164 total yards of offense. Meanwhile the Steelers had 421 yards of offense. The Steelers were led by Ben Roethlisberger who threw for 298 yards with a touchdown on the game. The Seahawks had just eight first downs. Their leading rusher was Tarvaris Jackson who had 12 yards rushing showing the Seahawks had no rushing game. The Seahawks longest play was only 17 yards on the day as their offense under second year coach Pete Carroll appears to be heading towards a very long season.

The Steelers began the game like a team looking to avenge their loss from the week before. On the opening drive the Steelers drove down the field 81 yards in eight plays highlighted by a Roethlisberger 30 yard pass. The Seahawks though had a great goaline stand to stop the Steelers on the one yard line. The Seahawks offense did go three and out from their own one yard line. So the Steelers took over on their own 40 yard line where they marched down the field again. After an incomplete pass by Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall ran for a gain of nine yards. Then on third and one, Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace for a gain of six. Mendenhall ran for nine yards followed up by a Roethlisberger completion to Isaac Redman for a gain of six yards to the Seahawks 30 yard line. Then on a double reverse pass to Hines Ward to the Seahawks 15 yard line, Mendenhall had two carries for 14 yards to the one yard line. Then Mendenhall ended the drive with a one yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a 7-0 lead.

After the Seahawks offense continued to do nothing. The Steelers with the short field took over on their own 47 yard line. Isaac Redman started the drive off with a five yard run, then on third and five Roethlisberger again extended the drive with a nine yard pass. Roethlisberger hit Wallace for a gain of 16 yards to the Seahawks 23 yard line. After a short run of three yards, Redman then ran for a 20 yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a commanding 14-0 lead. The Seahawks continued to do nothing offensively. The Steelers once again continued to march on the Seahawks defense. The Steelers drove 81 yards on 14 plays but had to settle for a field goal. The Steelers would lead at halftime 17-0. In the first half the Steelers had 275 yards of total offense in the first half while not punting one time. Meanwhile the Seahawks had just 61 yards of total offense failing to reach the Steelers territory.

In the second half not much had changed. The Seahawks offense continued to do nothing while the Steelers in the third quarter still put up some nice drives. On the Steelers second drive they went on a nine play 71 yard touchdown drive. On second and 11 from their own 28 yard line, Mendenhall had a run of eight yards setting up a third and three. Once again Roethlisberger delivered hitting a 14 yard pass. He then hit Wallace for a gain of 23 yards. The Steelers after a 15 yard penalty were facing a first and 25 from the Seahawks 42 yard line. Roethlisberger hit Wallace for a five yard gain then hit an 18 yard pass setting up a third and two. He would hit Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward for a gain of 15 yards to the Seahawks four yard line. After a run of two yards Roethlisberger hit Wallace on a fade pass for a two yard touchdown to give the Steelers a 24-0 lead.

The Steelers ended up hanging on for the win 24-0 over the Seahawks. The Steelers were led by Roethlisberger who was 22-30(73.3%) passing for 298 yards with a touchdown and a 115.7 QB rating. His main weapon who kept burning Brandon Browner all game long was Mike Wallace who had eight receptions for 126 yards with a touchdown. The Steelers couldn't really run the ball as Mendenhall had 66 yards(3.5 YPC) rushing with a touchdown while Redman had 49 yards(4.9 YPC) rushing with a touchdown. The Steelers offense had 421 yards of total offense while controlling the clock for 38:44 while grinding out 23 first downs. The Steelers owned this game against the Seahawks showing why they are the defending AFC champions while the Seahawks are a team in transition. The Steelers in the first half dominated the game going up 17-0 while just going through the motions in the second half. The defense proved to be too much for the Seahawks pathetic offense while the offense controlled the clock. The Steelers have a big time quarterback who can make plays while the Seahawks simply do not have that guy who can make his plays.

The Seahawks has some major problems this season. The offensive line hasn't been very good but the main problem is the quarterback play. The Seahawks had just 164 yards of total offense with eight first downs. The Seahawks averaged only 3.5 yards per play which is pathetic for an NFL offense. Tarvaris Jackson was 20-29(69.0%) passing for just 159 yards(5.5 YPA). He was sacked five times and couldn't find any offense. Marshawn Lynch had another pathetic outing with 11 yards rushing(1.8 YPC) on six carries. The Seahawks offense through the first two games and four games in preseason has looked rather pathetic. This offense looks like a team that is headed towards a top five draft pick.

All in all, the Seahawks are an offense which is the worst kind of offense to have. They are an ineffective offense. The Seahawks don't turn the ball over like crazy but they also don't do anything offensively which is highlighted by Jackson who refuses to go down field. The Seahawks offense is a plain mess and the secondary facing an elite quarterback was finally picked apart. The difference between these super bowl teams from Super Bowl XL is night and day. The Steelers have 17 players on their roster from their Super Bowl XL team while the Seahawks have just two. Carroll has this team in transition and his offseason appears to have busted. The Seahawks have yet to see Sidney Rice play while Robert Gallery was injured again. The Seahawks took a risk by letting go of Matt Hasselbeck who threw for 358 yards in a win over the Ravens on the same day the Seahawks were shutout. Now the Seahawks are 0-2 and have a fan base who is rooting for them to lose so they land Andrew Luck. The Seahawks in the present are in serious trouble and should think about making a quarterback change.

Observations:

- Marshawn Lynch finished the game with 11 yards on six carries. For the season Lynch has just 44 yards on 19 carries for a 2.3 YPC average which is terrible. In 16 games with the Seahawks he has ran for under 50 yards in 10 games, under 40 yards in eight games and under 30 yards in six games. He has averaged under 4.0 YPC in 11 games, under 3.0 YPC in eight games, under 2.0 YPC in three games. So in other words "beast mode" has been an absolute bust for the Seahawks since they have acquired. This is a position the Seahawks need to address in the NFL draft this upcoming season.

The offensive line isn't helping Lynch much as they are blocking very poorly. Still he spends way too much time dancing in the backfield instead of attacking a hole. He also is very slow as he is incapable of breaking off a big run on his own. Lynch at this point in his career appears to be a short yardage specialist. He has shown that he isn't an every day starting NFL running back seeing how he he has ran for under 3.0 YPC in 50% of his games in a Seahawks uniform. He's had just five games in his career where he ran over 4.0 YPC and only six games where he ran more than 50 yards which shows he is doing a horrible job in Seattle. Time to end the Lynch era at running back after this season.

- The Seahawks need to make a change at quarterback. Pete Carroll is all about competition yet when it comes to Tarvaris Jackson he immediately named him the starting quarterback. In preseason when Charlie Whitehurst clearly out performed him Carroll still stuck with Jackson. Now when you look at Jackson's numbers which were 20-29(68.9%) for 159 yards with zero interception you are probably thinking I'm being unfair to him. The facts are with him as quarterback the Seahawks are an ineffective offense. For the season Jackson is 41-66(62.1%) passing but only 356 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He is also having just 5.4 YPA while taking seven sacks.

Jackson takes captain checkdown to a whole new level as he doesn't even attempt a pass down field. He just dumps it off every throw or hang onto the ball way too long to be dropped for unneccesary sacks. For an average quarterback you want him to have his YPA at 8.0 while Jackson for his career 6.5 while taking 57 sacks in 38 games. Jackson is a bum who should never be a starter in this league. He may not turn the ball over but he also doesn't do anything either as the Seahawks offense continues to score no points.

- By Pete Carroll letting Hasselbeck go whether the fans wanted to accept it or not he announced he was rebuilding. Now thankfully for Carroll he won the division title his first year so the fans will give him some time. Carroll is in a dangerous position as some fans will never like him from his USC days and how bailed on USC when times were rought. He also burned the fan base by letting go fan favorites Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu, and many others go. Under Carroll the franchise turned over. I still believe in Carroll but this year he'll have some heat on him that is for sure. He has still yet to prove he is an NFL coach. After this year the Seahawks will most likely be picking in the top five with Carroll having a terrible coaching record. He signed a five year deal so should be interesting if Paul Allen gives him the full five years or if he'll pull the Carroll plug early.

In conclusion, the Seahawks have a quarterback controversy on their hands. Whenever you start off 0-2 with getting shutout the quarterback will take heat. The Seahawks offense is beyond terrible and in the draft they will have to draft quarterback then running back with their first two draft picks.The offense needs playmakers which they lack. I look around the league and see all these great quarterbacks then I see the Seahawks with Tarvaris Jackson makes me sick. The Seahawks are bringing a broken twig to a gun fight unless they are facing the 49ers. The Seahawks are in for a long season which always sucks. The Seahawks defense is okay and really good against the run that is the only saving grace. The offense is going to make fans sick especially after six months of bad Mariners baseball. Going to be a long year guys especially if Carroll continues to stick with Jackson as his quarterback. Sticking with Jackson could eventually lose Carroll his job.